Galaxy S10 and Note 10 left unusable after latest Samsung app update

Key Takeaways

  • A SmartThings Framework update is causing old Galaxy devices to enter into a bootloop.
  • The problem appears to affect the Galaxy S10, Note 10, A90, and M51.
  • To prevent issues, disable auto-update on your old Galaxy phone or factory reset if stuck in a bootloop.




Samsung stands out among all Android manufacturers for its excellent software support. While the company has a robust QA and testing team, it messes up every once in a while with an update, leading to inadvertent issues. Recently, Samsung pulled the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s One UI 6.1.1 firmware following complaints about a bug causing ghosting in images while zooming in. Some older Galaxy owner devices are having it even worse, with the latest Samsung SmartThings app causing their phone to get stuck in a bootloop.


Several Galaxy S10, Note 10, Galaxy A90, and M51 users have taken to Reddit (2) to complain about their devices being stuck in a bootloop (via Droid Life). The issue appears to happen while installing the latest SmartThings Framework build (v2.2.02.11), released on October 2nd, from the Galaxy Store.

As of now, Samsung’s entire Galaxy S10 and Note 10 lineup seems to be affected, barring the Lite models. The problem is also not limited to a specific region, with users from the US, Korea, Europe, and parts of Asia being affected.

If your old Galaxy phone is already stuck in a bootloop, your only option is to factory reset it through recovery. However, doing this will erase all data stored on it. You might not like this solution, but currently, there does not appear to be any other fix to get your old Galaxy back in a working state.


Disable auto update on your old Galaxy phone now

Photo of the Galaxy Store on a Samsung Galaxy S23+.


If your phone still works, you should head to the Galaxy Store settings and turn off the Auto update apps option. This will ensure it does not try to auto-update the Samsung SmartThings Framework in the background. Even if you any other old Galaxy device, you should turn off auto update for now to ensure you don’t run into a similar bootloop issue.

Even if Samsung rolls out a fix, it seemingly can’t resolve the problem on devices already in a bootloop. Still, if you don’t mind being left with a non-working phone and have important data, you can wait for an official solution from Samsung. Many affected users reached out to Samsung’s support for help, but they were instead directed to their closest service center.